Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 8, 1995 TAG: 9506080079
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
One person who had contact with the calf still is being sought, said Phillip Imel, environmental health specialist with the Alleghany Health District in Covington.
That person, a Christiansburg man, was one of two ``Samaritans'' who helped the calf's owner unload the animal at a veterinary hospital in Christiansburg, Imel said.
The calf was the third in the herd to die, but the only one confirmed to have rabies, Imel said.
The herd of about 15 beef cattle, whose pasture is in the Crows area of Alleghany County near the West Virginia line, is under quarantine for six months. Imel said it is unlikely that any of the animals are infected, however, because cows, even rabid cows, don't bite each other.
Rabies wasn't suspected in the first two calves to die because the disease is unusual in cows and because the calves had respiratory problems, which generally is not seen with rabies, Imel said.
Nine Alleghany County and six West Virginia residents are taking the full series of five shots - one of gamma globulin and four of anti-rabies serum - because of exposure to rabies. Four veterinary school students are getting booster shots, he said.
The reason so many people have to take shots is that they all had their hands in the animal's mouth, trying to give it pills. It was believed that the animal had a problem that might respond to antibiotics, Imel said.
The calf didn't try to bite anyone, but the exposure to saliva put the people in jeopardy, he said.
Imel said there is no way to know how the calf became infected. A few days before the calf died, a rabid raccoon was found about three miles from the cattle herd, but it is doubtful that animal infected the calf, Imel said.
Raccoons, skunks, foxes and bats are frequent carriers of the disease, however, he said.
``If you've got any animals out there that are not vaccinated, you need to do it immediately,'' Imel advised.
It's also wise to treat any sick animal as though it might have rabies, even if its symptoms don't necessarily indicate that it does, he said.
The rabid calf is the third recent atypical case of rabies in the area. Earlier this week, a rabid squirrel died in Roanoke. A family of four that was caring for the squirrel has started the series of shots to avoid rabies infection.
More than 30 people who last week petted a baby raccoon at a church social in Franklin County also are being treated for exposure to rabies because the raccoon later died from the disease.
Also this week, Roanoke environmental health workers became concerned when a child was bitten by a prairie dog at Mill Mountain Zoo. That turned out to be a ``provoked attack,'' and there is no suspicion that the prairie dog has rabies,
Imel said.
The child was bitten after its mother put the child in the prairie dog's cage to take a picture, he said.
by CNB